D.C. wants visitors back to the city for the Fourth of July, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday on the heels of the Biden administration's announcement there will be an Independence Day celebration at the White House, including the traditional fireworks on the National Mall.
Bowser called on Americans to come to the District to celebrate the holiday in a statement that came just a few days after D.C. reopened all venues at full capacity for the first time in 15 months.
“D.C. is open and ready to welcome back visitors to celebrate the way we came together as a city and as a nation this year. We have shown once again that when we come together, there is nothing we can’t do,” Bowser said in the statement.
The District has been trying to get visitors back to visit museums, eat at restaurants and stay at hotels as capacity restrictions lift and more people get Covid-19 vaccines. The District has now vaccinated more than 70% of residents ahead of Biden's goal of hitting that mark by July 4. Destination D.C., the city's tourism marketing arm, is offering hotel stays, restaurant meals and other hospitality-related giveaways in a sweepstakes called the D.C. Shop Eat Play Giveaway.
"With all capacity limits and restrictions lifted, cultural attractions are open and hotels are ready to welcome you back," Bowser tweeted Tuesday.
The White House will host an event on the South Lawn on July 4 and invite more than 1,000 first responders, essential workers, members of the military and others, according to The Associated Press. The traditional fireworks show on the National Mall will take place, and Biden is encouraging Americans around the U.S. to host their own Fourth of July celebrations for "a summer of freedom" from the coronavirus, the AP reported.
In D.C., in addition to the fireworks, which will be visible from many parts of the region, neighborhood parades in the Palisades and on Barracks Row will return, The Washington Post reported.
